Total Active Voice Subscription Increased by 3.69% in Q4 2017 – NBS

·Total
Active Voice Subscription and Total Active Internet Subscription in the fourth
quarter of 2017 was 145,065,953 and 98,699,310 respectively.·Total
Active Voice Subscription increased by 3.69% from quarter 3, 2017.·Total
Active Internet Subscription increased by 5.83% from quarter 3, 2017.·Both
voice and internet communication subscriptions in the fourth quarter, 2017 were
dominated by GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).·By the
end of the fourth quarter 2017, South-Western and North-Central states recorded
the highest numbers of voice and internet subscriptions than any other
geo-political zones in Nigeria.

Active Voice Subscription

OverviewTotal Active Voice Subscriptions in the fourth quarter
of 2017 decreased by 6.12% when compared with the same quarter of 2016, from to
154,529,780 in 2016 Q4 to 145,065,953 in Q4, 2017. The figure also indicates a
3.69% increase from the number reported in the third quarter of 2017.Subscription by Technology (GSM,
CDMA, Fixed Wires/Wireless, and VoIP)GSM

GSM subscription remained the largest component in
Total Active Mobile Subscription over the past year. As at the end of the
fourth quarter of 2017, Nigeria recorded 144,640,677 GMS based active voice
subscriptions nationwide.

Other TechnologyOther technology of voice telecommunication includes
CDMA, Fixed Wires/Wireless, and VoIP, which constitute around 0.29% of the
total Active Voice Subscription in 2017 Q4. CDMA as an alternative mobile
technology contributed 0.16% of the total active subscriptions, while fixed/
fixed wireless and VoIP accounted for 0.10% and 0.04% of the total figures
respectively. Please notice that the percentage figures presented in this and
the next sessions are estimated according to latest NCC data and are subject to
revision by NBS.Subscription by Network OperatorIn the fourth quarter, the four largest voice
communication providers were MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9Mobile (EMTS), which
contributed to 36.14%, 26.39%, 25.74% and 11.72% of the total telecom
communication subscriptions respectively. Among the top four network providers,
Airtel, 9mobile (EMTS) and MTN only specialize in GSM technology, while
Globacom operates both in the GSM and Fixed/Fixed Wireless Telecommunication
technology space

Active Voice Subscription by State

South West states recorded the highest active voice
subscriptions with a total subscription of 44,465,508 active voice
subscriptions. Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo were the top three states and jointly
accounted for 25.06% of the total voice subscription of the country. Lagos led
the pack with 19,417,181 total active voice subscriptions and 19,118,767 GSM
users by the end of the fourth quarter, equaling 13.18% of the total nationwide
subscriptions. Following the top three states were Kano (7,382,805), Kaduna
(6,642,801) and Rivers with 5,456,860. Bayelsa state accounted for the
lowest number of active voice subscriptions in the quarter under review, with
954,353.

Data/Internet SubscriptionsOverviewData
subscriptions in Q4 2017, as in previous quarters was dominated by mobile (GSM)
internet subscriptions, accounting for 99.7% of all active data/internet
subscriptions. In the quarter under review, total active internet
subscriptions stood at 98,699,310, a 5.83% growth over the previous quarter’s
93,263,436 active subscriptions.

Mobile
(GSM) Internet Subscriptions

GSM
remains the most dominant technology type for accessing the internet for
subscribers. In Q4 2017, active GSM internet subscriptions stood at
98,391,456, representing a 5.82% growth from the previous quarter’s 92,975,682
active subscribers. GSM internet subscriptions were on an increasing trend
throughout the year 2017, recording a 7.1% growth in subscriptions between
December 2016 and December 2017. In
the quarter under review (Q4 2017) MTN retained the highest share of all GSM
active internet subscribers, capturing 36.6% of subscriptions (36,069,597),
followed by Glo at 27.4% of subscription (26,997,817), Airtel at 24.3% of
subscriptions (23,985,203), and 9mobile (EMTS) at 11.5% of subscriptions
(11,338,839).

There
were mixed changes in GSM internet subscriptions for all telecommunication
operators when compared to the same period last year (Q4 2016). MTN increased
by 13.6% rising from 31,753,369 to 36,069,597 subscriptions; Globacom decreased
by 0.04% dropping from 27,010,178 to 26,997,817 subscriptions; Airtel increased
by 23.9% from 19,363,945 to 23,985,203 subscriptions; and 9Mobile decreased by
17.5% dropping from 13,752,940 to 11,338,839 subscriptions.

Other
Subscriptions (VoIP, CDMA and Fixed Wireless Internet Subscriptions)In
the period under review, other active internet subscriptions grew 6.84%
quarter-on-quarter from 288,154 active subscribers in Q3 2017 to 307,854 in Q4
2017.

Data/Internet
Subscriptions by State (Mobile/GSM)In
the quarter under review, Lagos state recorded the highest active GSM internet
subscriptions within the country, with 13,631,562 representing 13.81% of all
active internet subscriptions. This was followed by Ogun State at 6,434,069
(6.5%), Oyo State at 5,388,003 (5.46%), Kano at 4,634,623 (4.7%), and Kaduna at
4,506,065 (4.6%). Together the top ten states for active internet subscriptions
(Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, and FCT) accounted
for 53.27% of all internet subscriptions in Q4 2017. Bayelsa State, just as in
active voice subscriptions recorded the lowest number in active internet
subscriptions, recording 681,933.The
South West region has the highest percentage of active mobile internet
subscriptions at 31.50% with 31,097,215 subscriptions, this is followed by
North Central at 18.98% with 18,730,188 subscriptions, and North West at 16.21%
with 16,001,335 subscriptions. North Central, North East, and North West
regions recorded a decrease in growth when compared with the previous quarter
i.e. 31.26%, 26.19%, and 5.74% respectively. In the South West region, Glo
represents 27.44% of all active GSM internet subscriptions, while MTN
represents 36.66%, Airtel 24.37%, and EMTS (9Mobile) represents 11.52%
respectively.

Porting ActivitiesIn the
fourth quarter of 2017, total number of incoming and outgoing porting
activities stood at 8,628 and 8,830, representing a decrease of 48.67% and
47.14% respectively over the previous quarter. 9Mobile (EMTS) was the largest
beneficiary for incoming porting activities, accounting for 5,177 or 60% of the
total incoming porting.

Data Sent and Received (2016):4.37
billion SMS messages were sent out and 4.57 billion SMS messages received in
2016, both of which were heavily dominates by MTN which accounted for 67.3% of
the total.MTN
also dominated the number of outgoing (13.95 million) and incoming (10.77
million) roaming minutes of a total of 27.7 million and 39.97 million in 2016Click
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